


You're Not The Only Lost Boy

by GachMoBrea



Series: Family Built Intricacies [2]
Category: White Collar
Genre: "Payback", & he is Keller's too!, (Oops.), AU, Alternate Universe, Angst?, Bwahahaha, DNA tests (Offscreen), Episode Related, Gen, Helicopters, Inspired Work!, Kidnapped, Neal & Keller are Twin Brothers, OOC, Peter is Neal's DAD, Poor Keller & Neal too, Poor Peter, Regret, SPOILER TAGS!!!, Secrets, Then Canon Deviation, Threats, Vague-Ish Ending, WIP, s02e14
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 15:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7897168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where Peter and Neal are father & son and only the FBI are supposed to know about it...<br/>The "Payback" episode (Season 2 Episode 14) gets a little re-write.</p><p>Then gets ANOTHER twist, because my brain won't stop doing these sorts of things to me... [Spoiler Tags!]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Re-Doing the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [You Are My Sonshine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2733818) by [badwolfchild](https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolfchild/pseuds/badwolfchild). 
  * Inspired by [Stronger Than Justice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/207462) by [OnYourMark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnYourMark/pseuds/OnYourMark). 



> Inspired by two Archivers' Works. "badwolfchild" & "OnYourMark"  
> If this story insults you, guys, just say the word and I'll take your name off it.  
> (And apologize, of course.)

"...in order to use my cell phone battery-"  
"We're going to have to disconnect."

"It's the final step, Peter." Neal hopes his dad will be able to do it. He's a smart man, but maybe Neal made a mistake? What if it didn't work? What of Lang woke up and stopped him?  
"We almost have the location, Burke. Stay on the line."  
"There's no time."  
Peter ends the call.

Time dragged by with Herculean effort. Each second was another year to Neal as he stared at the phone, silently begging it to ring.

Then it does and he can't answer it fast enough, "Peter?!"  
"Sorry, Caffrey," Keller's voice mocks from the other end. "Peter can't come to the phone right now."  
"Keller," Neal curses the name. "If you hurt him-"  
"It's a little too late for that, partner," the other conman laughs. "But I'll refrain from causing further damage. If I can."  
"Let him go, Keller," Neal orders the man. "I'm the one you're angry at. Not Agent Burke."  
"Agent Burke?'" Keller scoffs. "Don't you mean Daddy? Dad? Or even pops?"  
Neal's heart sinks at the man's laugh.  
"Yeah, I know, Caffrey," he tells him. "It's amazing what you can learn even from the inside."  
The agents are all frozen in shock. Each looking at another as they try to figure out how the criminal could have come across the information, all the while tracing the call and hoping that they'll be able to get to the location in time.  
"So you're going to hurt Burke in order to get at me, Keller?" Neal forces a calmer tone then he felt through his lips. "Seems like a child's move to me."  
"Perhaps, " Keller remarks nonchalantly. "But it's working."  
The agent tracing the call raises his thumb to his boss. They have an exact location. A small amount of relief floods through Neal as he tries to keep his enemy on the line, "So what happens next? I don't have anything else to give you, Keller. The ring was all I had left."  
"I'm sure I'll think of something, Caffrey," the criminal answers. "For now, I think I'll make my escape before Peter's boys show up. The Feds should've traced this call by now. As a show of good faith, you can take Lang in for me. I don't need the extra luggage."  
"Leave Peter there too," Neal finds himself asking more than demanding like he wanted. "You don't need him."  
"Oh, but I do, Caffrey," Neal can hear the mocking smirk. "Peter and I have a lot to talk about."  
"Keller!" Neal's protest is answered with a dial tone. His enemy had hung up.  
"We'll get him back," Hughes assures the consultant. "Jones is already on route. There no way Keller will be able to escape."  
"I hope you're right," the younger man offers the older a forced smile. 'But I know you're wrong.'  
"Elizabeth," he whispers, remembering the woman was listening in thanks to a bug given to her by Mozzie. For once, Neal wished she was in the dark. There's no doubt in his mind the kind hearted wife of his father is stressing about the new development.  
'Find my husband. Find your father.' That's what she told him. And no matter what, that's what Neal intended to do.

\---


	2. First Part of the Change

A week is seven days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes. 604,800 seconds.  
But for Neal, it felt like two lifetimes over eternity.  
Because Peter was still missing.

The conman had successfully gotten away from his temporary handlers while his father was MIA, Mozzie helping out beyond words, but his attempts at finding the agent only served to put him in lock down at his own apartment.  
Only three people were allowed into the place now, June, Elizabeth, and Moz. But Neal wasn't allowed to open the door, let alone leave.

"What could he be doing with Peter?" Neal punches the wall in a fit of frustration.  
Mozzie, who was staring off into the distance, lost in his own thoughts, jumped at the action and turned raised eyebrows to his friend.  
"I do not see how personal, physical harm will aid in the recovering of Father Suit," he tells Neal. "Also, I would suggest you spend your free time cultivating a vast array of things to do to Keller once you've required said nemesis."  
"I've already decided to tie him to the back of a truck and drive him throughout the city blaring Peter's favorite song and drinking a bottle of Chivas Regal."  
"I didn't know you became a whisky drinker."  
"Well, having Peter whisked away to torture land will change a man's taste in alcohol," Neal runs a hand through his hair as he sits in the empty chair next to his friend. "There's been no word form Keller. No mocking note. Nothing."  
"On the bright side," Mozzie offers. "You also haven't received small pieces of Father Suit dropped off to you in packages."  
"Thanks, Mozzie," the conman remarks sarcastically, groaning as he rubs at his face. He was so tired. The only time he could sleep was when he was too exhausted to stay awake. Every waking moment was dedicated to worrying about his dad and vowing painful vengeance towards Keller.

There's a knock on the door and Diana peeks her head inside.  
"Time's up, Mozzie," the female agent frowns in apology, but otherwise keeps her expression guarded. "Neal needs some alone time now."  
"Till the morrow," the man bows out of hte room after a wave to his friend.  
Diana hesitates in the doorway for a second, mouth opening to offer some sort of wisdom or assurance to her friend. She can't come up with anything worth saying, so she ends up closing the door.

\---

The next morning, Neal startles awake to something flying into his room.  
It's a bird.  
As his eyes clear, he identifies exactly what kind of bird. It's a pigeon.  
'Why would you fly in here?' Neal's brow furrows as he walks over to the animal. He reaches for it and is surprised when it allows him to pick it up.  
Then he notices something else about his visitor. It's not any pigeon. It's a carrier pigeon with a small pouch attached to one of its legs.  
Neal takes the pouch and puts the bird back down. It walks over to the kitchen area to peck at some leftover crumbs from who knows how long ago. Neal doesn't remember the last time he actually ate something.  
Inside the pouch, there's a poor copy of the ring Neal gave Keller and a piece of paper with an address and one word on the bottom, "Alone".  
It isn't hard to dicipher who sent the bird and what they want. Keller's calling Neal out and he's going to meet the murderer.  
Quickly, the conman writes a reply, vague enough for Keller to understand but seem senseless to anyone else who might intercept it.  
Then he sends the bird back out his open doors and starts planning his next escape.

\---


	3. Keller's Reveal

Neal has never loved June and Elizabeth as much as he did the day both women helped him escape. Between Elizabeth's pretend worry about a potential threat at her house to divert their attention and June's help in sneaking the conman out, escape was easier than ever.  
Moz was waiting for him at street level in a car with tainted windows. Neal dropped his friend off a few blocks from the meeting place, refusing his help and ordering the man to inform the FBI should things go even more wrong then they already were.  
"Bringing Father Suit is important, but," Mozzie takes a moment to look his friend in the eyes. "Getting both of you out of there in relatively on piece is more so."  
"Don't worry about me, Moz," Neal smiles at him, reaching across the emptied seat for the door handle. "I'm going to get Peter back."  
Then he pulls the door shut and takes off down the street.

-

Neal inwardly lets out a slew of curse words as he sneaks into the FBI building's back door. Of course that's where Keller would hide Peter. In a secure building under everyone's nose where no one would think to look. With every agent OUT looking for Peter Burke, no one would think to search the very building the agent worked for!  
Keller was clever and knew how to get into difficult places, Neal would give him that. But there was no room in the young man's mind for admiration with all the hatred and anger that boiled with every step.  
The conman lucked out with the cleaning crew truck with a spare outfit. The guard was new too and didn't look at Neal twice after scanning his badge and allowing him access.  
Then all Neal had to do was take the stairs to the right floor, get the outfit off and take a breath so that he wouldn't strangle Keller the moment he saw him.  
If only he had a gun.

On the floor there was a great big sign labeled "under construction" for anyone curious to see. By the looks of the place, not much work had been done over the past few weeks. So either it was abandoned, or Keller somehow put in the work order than was never fully completed some how.  
All the while relaxing behind bars in prison. 

After walking passed a few piles of abandoned work material, Neal finally found who he was looking for.  
Keller.  
The murdering crook was standing by the window in a nice, well cut suit, looking at something small in his right hand instead of the impressive view.  
"Caffrey," Keller addresses the other, eyes still on the something in his hand. "So good of you to come."  
Neal glances at a hammer partially hidden on the ground by his feet. In an emergency, he could use it as a weapon. But first, he has to figure out where his dad was.  
"Where's Peter?"  
"Straight to business then," his enemy frowns, turning as he looks up at the other conman. "Why don't you call him what he is? I already know."  
"Tell me where he is, Keller," Neal demands, hands balling into fists.  
"Call him what he is first."  
"Why do you care what I call him?"  
"Why won't you do as I say?"  
"This isn't a game!"  
"You keep saying that, but you won't refer to your fed father as dad?"  
"Fine!" Neal barks, takes a breath to calm himself then answers quieter. "Where's my dad?"  
"Close," Keller smirks at his small victory, stepping closer to Neal to offer him the thing in his hand. It's Peter's picture of him as a teenager and little Neal. "I think this is yours?"  
Neal wants to rip it out of the other man's hands, but he forces himself to carefully take it instead. He doesn't want to risk ripping it.  
"That's really sweet," his enemy remarks, rubbing at his chin as he steps away again. "A nice memento of a family that could have been. You, Peter, and Mom. All smiles and hope of a future they didn't want."  
'Mom?' Neal frowns. 'Why did Keller refer to my birth mother as Mom?'  
"I wish I had one of those," Keller continues, voice sounding a little less confident and a lot more sad. "A nice little picture of me and the parents."  
"Is that what this is about?" Neal asks carefully. "You're jealous that I found my father? That I have a family now?"  
"No, Caffrey," his enemy smiles strangely at him. "I'm angry because the doctors that pulled you out of our mother, didn't even bother to tell our father he had another son."  
The world spins as Neal's brain translates the man's words. 'It can't be.'  
"You're smart, Caffrey," Keller reaches into his suit jacket's inside pocket, pulls out a manila envelope that he hands over to his adversary. "I'm sure you'll be able to believe this more than my word."  
Neal snatches the envelope and tears into it without any of the calm he was pretending to have. He tosses away the first page of graphs to go to the layman's analysis.  
The highlighted words look so much larger than they should on the page: "Subjects related".

\---


	4. Cliff-Hangery Ending...

"This can't be. This is a lie," Neal throws the papers to the ground. "Where is Peter?!"  
"It's no lie, Caffrey," Keller merely blinks at the other man's outburst. "After Lang shot me, twice, and I almost died, I decided to find out where I came from. I did the whole, 'finding yourself' internal trauma stuff and everything."  
"I don't really see much change," Neal comments dryly.  
"Point is, I wasn't having much luck until my sources told me of your little blood drawing trip and paternal test," Keller shrugs. "I knew we had the same blood type as well and decided to throw a stone into the dark."  
"We have different birthdays," Neal reminds the man. "We also don't look a thing alike."  
"It's called being fraternal, Caffrey," his enemy chuckles. "And the first thing I did once I had enough money was to alter my records. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a six foot blonde either."  
He had never even bothered to check those details for mistakes. He just assumed everything was correct. A foolish mistake.  
"I'm getting tired of this, Keller," Neal decides to pick up the hammer. He'll beat the answers out of his 'brother' if he has to. "For the last time. Where is Peter?"  
"Do you honestly think that I'd hurt our dad?" his nemesis shakes his head in shame. "I'm hurt, brother."  
"You're going to be hurt," Neal takes a few threatening steps closer to the other man, hammer raises as he glares at his enemy.  
"Woah!" Keller raises his hands in defeat, points over to the side where a thick, plastic sheet was hanging. "Dad wouldn't be too happy if he found out you killed me before he could tell you not to."  
'I doubt Peter would care that much.' Is what Neal wants to say, but he knows better. He knows his kind hearted, by the book, dad would want to give Keller a chance.   
So instead of bashing the criminal's head in, Neal runs for the plastic sheet to pull it out of the way. There's a simple wooden door on the other side and Neal's through it before he knows he's reached for the knob.  
Peter is tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Eyes staring blankly forward and mouth slightly agape in shock.  
Neal drops the hammer and runs.  
"Peter?" He gets in his father's face, tries to get the man to look at him. "Peter? Are you okay? Hello?"  
Nothing. No response. Neal has the ropes off now and lightly taps the agent's face. "Peter?"  
Still nothing. He shouts, "Dad!"  
Peter snaps out of his daze, turns his head and locks eyes with his son. "Neal?"  
"There you are," Neal's shoulders sag in relief. "You looked a little out of it there for a minute. Are you okay? Did Keller hurt you? Drug you?"  
"Keller," Peter frowns, eyes widening in alarm. "Matthew. Neal! Neal, he's your brother! I didn't know. I swear I didn't know!"  
"It's okay, Peter," his son assures him. "Everything's going to be okay."  
"But I was there!" the agent's frown deepens, eyes turning into a glare. "Neal, I was THERE! How did I not know? How could I be so stupid?"

"The million dollar question of the day," Keller's voice interrupts their reunion.

Neal stands protectively in front of his father as his enemy hold a gun on them.  
"Let him go, Keller," one conman asks the other. "It's obvious that you only took him in order to run your little test. You don't need him anymore."  
"Is that how it is, Caffrey?" Keller frowns, looking over to the agent who is slowly pushing himself out of the chair. "Once the kid's all grown up, they don't need their pops anymore?"  
Peter puts a hand on Neal's shoulder to stop his retort. He steadies his legs, having lost feeling in them after sitting for so long, and stands confidently next to one son as he looks to the other.  
"I'm sorry, Matthew," Peter apologizes sincerely. "I was young. I was stupid. I made a mistake. I wasn't much help to Neal in his life either. I lost track of him when his adoptive parents moved away. But not even knowing you existed is a sin I will forever carry with me."  
"Peter," Neal tries to interrupt, but his father shakes his head.  
"If I could go back, knowing what I know," Peter shakes his head. "I would never allow either of you two to stray. I would do everything in my power to be a part of your life."  
"Because we're just a pair of screw ups, eh?" Keller scowls. "Some criminal kids you can't bare to have related to you, is that it Burke?"  
"No," the agent answers firmly. "You two are brilliant in your own ways," his voice lowers in regret. "I just wish I could have helped you cultivate that for the right reasons."  
"Like becoming a professional assassin instead of a two-bit murderer?" Keller retorts, still angry.  
"You're more than a murderer, Matthew," Peter frowns. "Do I admire you for all the people you've killed? No. I admire your ability to plan and plot so completely. Before I started working with Neal, I didn't even know you were out there to catch. That's saying something."  
"Second to me, you're the best," Neal finally gets a word in. "Don't throw everything away now that you've finally gotten your hands on it."  
"What am I throwing away, exactly?" Keller asks, tone softer but gun still aimed at the two. "I escaped prison. That'll only add to the time I have to serve, not take away from it. And I happen to know on good authority, that the feds wouldn't keen on taking on another 'consultant' since they've already got one."  
"I can protect you from the Russians," Peter assures him. "You'll go back to the same prison you were in, less of the luxuries perhaps, but you'll have at least one constant visitor." The agent smirks a little. "Assuming you want to see me, of course."  
"I'll have to think about it," Keller frowns, head turning to look over his shoulder. "Sounds like the Calvary's almost here tho. Mozzie?"  
Neal shrugs. He had warned his friend to alert the others if he wasn't back soon enough. 'Guess time's up.'  
"Please, don't run," Peter almost begs as Keller takes a step back. "Running will only make things worse."  
Actually, getting caught and then escaping would be worse," Keller returns with a smirk. "Sorry, family, gotta run for now. But," he winks at them. "I'll be around."  
Then he's out of the room and closing the door on them. Neal runs for it first, making sure that it was locked before looking down at the hammer.  
Peter grabs the tool up and slams it into the handle to break the lock and free them.

"Up or down?" the agent asks at the stairwell as they hear the echoes of feet.   
A helicopter's approach catches their attention.  
"Up," they say at the same time.  
They run.

They're too late. Keller is already on the roof, running for the copter as Peter and Neal try to shout at him to stop.  
The criminal turns to them as he pulls open the door and fake salutes.  
Father and son stare helplessly as agents flood the roof and the newly discovered family member makes his escape.

....?

**Author's Note:**

> Wait for it....I own nothing...


End file.
